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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. charge — a price
  3. court — of a king
  4. chair — a leader
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. land — to come down
  8. kid — child
  9. land — a country
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. kid — to tease
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. clip — a video
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. charge — in control
  16. court — for sport
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. court — of law
  20. land — ground
  21. charge — electricity
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com